The present invention relates to an electronic component installing apparatus and a method for installing an electronic component on an electronic circuit board.
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for the development of techniques for accurately installing electronic components on an electronic circuit board at a predetermined position thereof. An example of a conventional electronic component installing apparatus is described below with reference to FIG. 4. The apparatus comprises a transporting unit 34 for transporting an electronic circuit board 33 to a predetermined position thereof and transporting it therefrom; Y-robots 36 and 37 and an X-robot 38 for positioning, at a given position, a head 40 including a suction nozzle 39 for drawing thereto an electronic component 41 placed on an electronic component supply unit 35; a cable 42 accommodating power lines for supplying electric power to a driving portion of the head 40; a cable 43 accommodating signal lines for sending signals to a sensor disposed inside the head 40; and a frame 44 for hanging the cable 43.
The operation of the electronic component installing apparatus is described below. The Y-robots 36 and 37 and the X-robot 38 move the head 40 to a location disposed above the electronic component supply unit 35. Then, the suction nozzle 39 moves downward, thus drawing the electronic component 41 thereto. A recognizing camera provided in the head 40 images the position and posture of the electronic component 41 drawn by the suction nozzle 39 being moved to the electronic circuit board 33. Based on the information provided by the camera, the electronic component 41 on the suction nozzle 39 is corrected in its position and posture and then, installed on the electronic circuit board 33.
The construction of the above-described electronic component installing apparatus has, however, the following disadvantages. Signal lines are liable to be affected by noises generated by the cable 42 due to a high voltage and frequency of the power lines accommodated therein. Therefore, in the conventional electronic component installing apparatus, it is necessary to dispose the power lines and the signal lines separately from each other in order to stabilize the operation thereof. To this end, the signal lines are accommodated in the cable 43. Consequently, the frame 44 is required to hang the cable 43, which increases the manufacturing cost. In addition, as countermeasures against noise, normally, the signal line comprises a twisted pair. Accordingly, the diameter of the signal line is great and it is difficult to bend it, and thus the signal line is liable to be broken. Signal lines are increasingly provided in the component installing apparatus because the head is required to detect the number of electronic components in addition to imaging the position and posture thereof.